Chapter 197: Tathagata Debates the Teachings

Tathagata left Mount Sumeru and did not reveal his true form to head to Xi Niuhe Zhou.

After all, this matter concerned the face of the Buddhist community. Jin Chanzi, as the designated scripture-fetcher of the Buddhist community, had now seen his reincarnation become a "demon monk." If this were to spread, where would the face of his Buddhist community be?

Therefore, it must be handled low-key.

Tathagata made up his mind. He transformed, restrained the Buddha light around his body, and turned into an ascetic monk with a thin figure, a withered face, and wearing a tattered monk's robe.

Then he took a step and crossed thousands of miles of mountains and rivers, arriving at the place where Fa Neng was.

With a sweep of his divine sense, he locked onto Fa Neng's position.

At this moment, Fa Neng was in a city called "Guang'an City."

On a high platform in the center of the city, he was debating fiercely with a group of monks from the local largest temple, "Baoguang Temple."

Below the high platform, surrounded by three layers inside and three layers outside, were the common people and believers who had come to listen to the scriptures.

"... The foundation of Buddhist teachings lies in compassion. Seeing the suffering of sentient beings yet turning a blind eye, instead guiding sentient beings to spend money to worship that mud-sculpted golden body, this is putting the cart before the horse, not true Buddhist teachings!"

Fa Neng's voice was clear and powerful, echoing among the crowd.

Although he was young, after these years of experience and the influence of Liaochen's thinking, his words were sharp, his logic was clear, and every word pointed directly to the human heart.

Opposite him, the abbot of Baoguang Temple, an old monk in a gorgeous cassock, was asked until his face was red and his ears were red, gasping and unable to say a word for a long time.

"You... you are heretical! This is demon talk! The Buddha's golden body is the sustenance of sentient beings' faith. Worshipping my Buddha's golden body is to accumulate merit for the next life. This is anti-Buddhist speech!" The old monk was furious but helpless.

"Accumulate merit for the next life?" Fa Neng sneered. "If you can't even live in this life, why accumulate merit for the next life? This is just a statement you use to deceive sentient beings."

"If you want to accumulate virtue, it's better to let a starving disaster victim eat a full meal. What's the use of offering another stick of incense to a Buddha statue that already enjoys the incense of ten thousand people? If the Buddha has spirit, he must also be willing to see believers well-fed and living in peace, rather than seeing believers starving while still trying to find ways to worship him."

"This..."

The old monk was completely silenced.

The common people below the platform also whispered and discussed.

"This Master Fa Neng makes sense!"

"Yes, we work hard to earn some money, and most of it is donated to the temple as incense oil money, but life is still tight. If the Buddha really blesses us, why doesn't he let us live a good life?"

"Exactly! The monks of Baoguang Temple are all oily and fat, while we can't even fill our stomachs!"

Listening to the discussions of the common people below, the faces of the monks of Baoguang Temple were uglier than the last.

The ascetic monk transformed by Tathagata had been standing in the crowd for a long time but hadn't come forward, just watching all this quietly. But at this moment, hearing Fa Neng's words, his brows couldn't help but wrinkle slightly.

He discovered that the situation was even more serious than he had imagined.

This Fa Neng was no longer just preaching "heretical theories"; he was dismantling the foundation of the Buddhist community's spread of Buddhist teachings.

He dissected the Buddhist community's concept of accumulating virtue for the next life, which was used to win over believers, in front of the public, making ordinary believers doubt the Buddhist community's philosophy.

Once this kind of thinking spread, the consequences would be unimaginable.

By then, who would still believe in the Buddhist community? Who would still make offerings to the Three Jewels?

Without the power of faith from believers, how could his Pure Land of the Buddha Kingdom in Lingshan be maintained?

"Can't let him continue talking!" Tathagata made up his mind.

He took a step and walked slowly out of the crowd, step by step, climbing onto the high platform.

His appearance was abrupt, and both sides of the debate, as well as the audience below the platform, couldn't help but focus their eyes on him.

"This is..."

The old monk of Baoguang Temple looked at this strange monk who suddenly came on stage, a bit confused.

Fa Neng also stopped. He looked at this ascetic monk with a withered face but eyes as deep as the sea, and a trace of vigilance inexplicably arose in his heart.

He felt an inexplicable pressure from this monk.

"Amitabha."

Tathagata walked to the center of the high platform, pressed his palms together to everyone, and bowed.

"This poor monk is traveling here and heard that there is a debate between high monks, so I came to ask for advice."

His voice was calm, but it had a power that made people inexplicably feel at ease.

The old monk of Baoguang Temple, seeing someone come out to help, was overjoyed and hurriedly said: "So it is a traveling Master. We mortals have shallow Buddhist knowledge and were being refuted by this 'demon monk' until we were speechless. I ask the Master to take action, subdue the demon, and rectify the hearing!"

He directly put a "demon monk" hat on Fa Neng.

Tathagata didn't answer, just nodded slightly, then turned his gaze to Fa Neng.

"This Master," he said slowly, "This poor monk just heard what you said, and it seems you have your own unique insights into Buddhist teachings. However, this poor monk has one thing I don't understand and would like to ask the Master to enlighten me."

"Master, please speak." Fa Neng said with a solemn expression.

"What you just said, that it is useless for the world to worship my Buddha's golden body and that it is better to pay more attention to oneself. This poor monk cannot agree with this."

Tathagata's voice was not loud, but everyone present could hear his voice clearly.

"My Buddha Tathagata is the supreme being of the Three Realms and the ancestor of ten thousand Buddhas. My Buddha passed down the true scriptures of Buddhist teachings to educate sentient beings and help them escape the sea of suffering. People chant scriptures and worship the Buddha to learn the wisdom of Buddhist teachings and purify their own hearts. People worship his golden body to express gratitude for my Buddha's immeasurable merit and their heart toward Buddhist teachings. By worshipping daily, one can naturally receive my Buddha's protection and accumulate immeasurable merit. How can the Master say that worshipping my Buddha is a useless act of putting the cart before the horse?"

"As for what the Master said about carrying water and chopping wood also being cultivation, this poor monk also disagrees. If this also counts as cultivation, wouldn't every farmer and woodcutter in the world have attained the Dao?"

Tathagata's words were gems, grasping the loopholes in Fa Neng's words to refute him.

The common people below the platform nodded repeatedly.

"This Master makes sense!"

"Yes, I heard that many people worship the Buddha and are free from illness and disaster, and can enter the Land of Ultimate Bliss after death. How can one say it's useless?"

"That Master Fa Neng is a bit too extreme."

These ignorant people didn't have their own judgment. Seeing that Tathagata's words seemed to make some sense, the direction of public opinion instantly reversed.

The monks of Baoguang Temple were all beaming with joy, sweeping away their previous decadent appearance, and their eyes looking at Fa Neng were full of provocation.

Fa Neng looked at the ascetic monk before him, his face solemn.

He took a deep breath. He vaguely felt that today's debate would be the most difficult one since he walked out of Pudu Temple. ===== CHAPTER 198 =====